The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-05-30
100000 VS.. $4,000.
COST OF WHISKY CRIME VS..
LICENSE REVENUE.
Liquor Revenue 100000 and
Expense Of Criminals Caus-
ed by Drink Alone ST.
100000 n Year.

| letter 10 Mr.. Douglass, SHOWS tnat Ill
Bible reading he has been somewhat
careless, for he cnuncIates that men
cannot be made "moral by any spe.
cies OF coercion" and that the Savior
4never sought to purify the people by
prohibitory measures" "Thou shalt
not " is repeatedly written in the dec.
alogue, and the account of how Christ
scourged the fellows who sat about
the temple, making it den Of thieves
smacks OF very vigorous prohibi
ton.
Right here it is proper to ask, was
their traffic more productial of crime
than this other traffic Of these days
which has insinuatcd itself into the
very portals of the temple of justice
and with a gilded screen of $4,000
(paid Tor liquor licenses last ycar), has
successfully, shielded from the view OF
the chief law officer of the State the
enormous proportions Of crime, mis-.
cry and waste which the traffic caused,
and persuaded him to ask "what good
reason can there be for abolishing this
revenue, and placing the burden on
other sources"
Would he persuade Texas to weigh
crime against gold? Where and when
did he learn to measure its influences
on the State by money standard. Is
there no life blood in the pound of
flesh which he would have the State
to continue to mortgage for paltry
money consideration. The property
of Texas subject to taxation amounts
to S630,000,0O0 and an addition of one
twelfth of ona per cent TO the tax
rate would convert into the State
treasury moro revenue than this boast
cd contribution by the liquor traffic.
If the amendment prevails there is
every reason 10 believe that the
amount of money needed to prosecute
crime will be much less than is now
required and taxes will be diminished
rather than increased. 1t can be
shown that all the $4,000 and much
moro is speut, in the prosecution Of
crime: then what equivalent of any
character does the State receive for
the loss inflicted on it through this
liquor traffic, which transfers annually
nearly 1000 of her citizens into con-
victs, and teaches more men to disre.
gard law than all the other tralllcs
making them criminals and
outlaws, and in other States, anewer-
ing argument by assassination as
proved by the murder of Haddock at
Milwaukee, Norihrop at Haverhill
and Cambria at Jackson, Miss. The
plea Of the liquor seller that if you
stop their wasting traffic taxes will be
reminds one of the fellow
who murdered his parents and
when brought before the court plead
ed for mercy on the grounds that che
was a poor orphan. :"
The attorney general has only been
in Office few months, and doubtless
has not had time and opportunity 10
read all the documents which he can
find in his library bearing on crime
and its cost TO the people of Texas, or
he would not have rushed so recklessly
into print. One of his predecessors,
the Hon. George Clark, now chairman
of the State executive committee of
the anti prohibitionists, made a very
exhaustive search and comprehensive
report OH this subject during his term
of Office. In his report of August 81.
1875, he said that during the previous
year 972 persons were convicted and
sentenced TO the peniteutiary at a cost
TO he State and counties Of $S9S,017or
1918 each. lie also said: al think l
hazard nothing in asserting that crime
cost the State in an actual expenditure
of governmental funds more than
$500, 100 for the fiscal year just ended"
And he adds: d" No attempt is made
to compute the vast cost consequent
on the withdrawal from their usual
avocations of hosts OF witnesses,
jurors, etc, for weeks at a time aud
several times during the year."
Lest the attorney general has not